1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to water purification and, more particularly, is concerned with a water distillation apparatus being capable of under-the-sink operation.
Description of the Prior Art
There is much evidence from government and independent studies showing that ordinary household drinking water contains elements and chemicals that are harmful to public health. Scientists from the World Health Organization and the National Cancer Institute estimate that up to 80% of all cancer is caused by chemicals in the air people breathe, the food they eat and the water they drink.
Distillation has proven to be one of the most simple, economical and effective ways to remove harmful pollutants in water ranging from bacteria and viruses to radioactivity. Basically, distillation involves boiling water, capturing and condensing the steam generated from the boiling process, and then collecting the condensed steam as pure water.
Distillation apparatuses have been available for many years, particularly for providing improved quality of water, such as water for cooking and drinking. Many apparatuses having various arrangements of tanks, heaters, coils, valves, pumps, etc., for accomplishing water distillation appear in the prior patent art and the commercial literature. Representative of the prior art are the apparatuses disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. to Martens (1,284,406), Skow (3,055,810), Fitch et al (3,696,003), Hickman (3,860,494), Smith (3,975,241), Kirschmann (3,980,526), McLean (4,035,240), Glazer (4,252,616), Ellis, Jr. (4,339,307) and Wong (4,687,550).
For carrying out distillation of household water to provide pure water for use in cooking and drinking, the optimum location of the apparatus is under the kitchen sink. However, the confined and closed condition of such location makes effective cooling of the apparatus a problem. Inadequate access to a source of cool air means that cooling the apparatus by circulation of air is not feasible. Use of cooling water from a pressurized cold tap water line would appear to hold the most promise as a viable way to cool the distillation apparatus and condense steam into pure water.
However, none of the water-cooled distillation apparatuses either disclosed in the prior patent art or being sold commercially is optimally adapted for use under a sink. Those distillation apparatuses that might be capable of fitting under the sink disadvantageously employ a gravity flow to dispose of used or "spent" cooling tap water. However, when placed under the sink, the distillation apparatus will be located below the level of the top of the trap in the sink drain line which is the only realistic means available to effectively get rid of the spent cooling water. Thus, gravity flow would be inadequate to move spent cooling water from the apparatus upwardly above the drain trap for discharge into the sink drain line.
Therefore, a long-felt need is perceived to exist for a distillation apparatus particularly adapted for use under a sink (but, of course, not just limited to use in such location), whether the sink be in a household kitchen or in any other facility. The apparatus should be capable of functioning automatically (that is, without the requirement for frequent human monitoring, control or intervention) in using pressurized tap water as the cooling medium and then discharging the spent cooling water to the sink drain line. The need for such apparatus has remained unfulfilled up to the present time.